Canberra’s Ros Balodis has taken out the Women’s 55+ singles and doubles titles at the 2015 ITF Seniors World Individual Championships in La Baule, France. Balodis stormed through the singles draw, winning the title without losing a set, while in the doubles she combined with Leanne Swaysland to take out their fourth consecutive world title.
Heading into the championships, Balodis was ranked 5th in the world and seeded 3 in the tournament. She made light work of her early rounds dropping just 1 game in her first 3 matches to breeze through to the final four. In the semi finals Balodis lined up against number 2 seed, Barbora Koutna of the Czech Republic, defeating her 6-3, 6-3 to move into the championship match. Balodis’ opponent in the final was defending champion and world number 1 Christine French of Great Britain. Unfortunately, French tore a pectoral muscle in the 3rd game and was forced to serve underarm for part of the first set. The injury proved too much for French, and she retired after Balodis took the first set 6-1.
In the doubles, Balodis combined with NSW’s Leanne Swaysland to take out an impressive fourth consecutive world title. With such a dominant record, the pair went into the tournament as the number 1 seeds. They comfortably moved through to the final, dropping only 8 games in 3 matches. The final would prove to be a closely contested battle, as they faced number 2 seeds Christine French (GBR) and Susan Wright (USA). Balodis and Swaysland dominated the first set 6-1, however French and Wright fought back to take the 2nd 6-4. Balodis and Swaysland proved too strong in the 3rd set super tiebreak, taking it 10-2.
Prior to the individual championships, Balodis also played a vital role in Australia making the finals of the Maureen Connolly Cup. As the number 4 seeds, the Australian’s were dominate in the round robin stages, defeating Germany, Switzerland, and Turkey 3-0. In the semis, the Australian’s upset number 1 seeds the USA, 2-1, with Balodis winning both her singles and doubles matches. In the final, the Aussies came up against a strong French team, who took both the singles to take the title 2-1 over the Australians.
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